2014-07-13

My Husband Laid Pipe, See The Pictures

It's been a busy week, lots to be thankful for. Family Vacation, and all that it brings. I'm working on a post for the things I've learned from mine over the years.We swam, played games, had bonfires...

That's Lola on the other side, she's not as close to the fire as it looks

...made S'mores. Seriously. Whoever realized that 3 pretty good foods together combine to form a Perfect Snack, deserves some sort of award. Much more than actors do. Steve Buschemi is damn entertaining to watch, but probably an awful snack.

Right? My cousin's daughter's dainty hand

We went on their pontoon boat, which I STILL kind of feel like I'm aboard almost a week later. I don't have pictures aboard the boat because I'm not allowed to bring my phone near the water, after killing so many phones. Someone else took this on my sister's neighbor's pier.

Husband Alex and Bug, the 2 year old

We went blueberry picking...

...and had some good relatively-clean family fun.My husband took the week off work, we did some necessary home-groaner projects. Which, as per our usual, brought about MORE projects. Cleaning the laundry room caused THIS to happen behind the dryer.

BEFORE

It's okay to marvel over my husband's shiny pipe. Yeah, this is more duct work than PIPE, but that's not as funny.

AFTER

Fun fact: Did you know when you replace duct work, you're not actually supposed to use the duct tape we know and love? And have tons of. Nope, totally different tape.

Oooooh, shiny

It was a good thing this happened because this contraption (below) in our duct work from the 1950's, which they thought would be a smart way to heat homes, blows carbon monoxide into our HOUSE, and needed to be fixed. For the past almost 6 years we've lived here with this. Maybe I'll be less tired all the time now? Who knows.

Horrible idea. Dryers should vent OUTSIDE

That meant: Back to Home Depot for us! We should really just have our paychecks direct deposited to their headquarters. I'm thankful we have this house, DGMW, but we've been there so much this year, my kids think it's their playplace.

Hide & Seek

Now instead of crying and screaming to get down from the cart, they're yelling and screaming and LAUGHING while running down the aisles. Somehow that's better.

and building towers with duct work.

and pretending to be merchandise? "How much for thee leettle girl?"

Their noise still seems to bring workers blissfully to us, asking if they can help, and making sure my kids don't hurt themselves so we don't sue them. Double bonus!This post is part of the best better-than-a-blog-hop Silver Linings Upside-Down-Frown-Turn, that hopefully washes away some of the week's bad deeds of this sinner: The Ten Thanks of Thingful. Click HERE to join in, and tell us what you're thankful for.

Today is my son Tinny's 19th (yes, I'm that old) birthday. I have mixed feelings about that, since he's currently living with his dad for not following the rules here again, but I'm thankful he's lived this long. I'm thankful he has the option to live with his dad, he hasn't seen a whole lot of him for the past oh, decade or so, but since he does need tough love, and to learn consequences and I'm not ready to kick him to the actual curb, I'm glad he's got another option in between.I'm thankful my husband and I don't fret over every storm. I'm a member of a local parent page for my town, and I woke to see hundreds of comments from panicked moms about last night's Tornado Watch, or was it a Warning? No tornado was spotted, we haven't had one this close to Chicago for some time, but the conditions were right and a LOT of parents lost sleep, moved their families to the basement, etc., and we slept peacefully not even knowing anything about it.

Flooding in Burbank, IL from cbslocal.com

I let them know I have THANKFULLY installed an AccuWeather app on my phone. It sends me a very loud audible alarm if there is something to actually worry about. It sent me a flash flood warning, and there was enough rain to cancel a concert AND the Taste of Chicago, and knock out our power for hours yesterday, but it thankfully didn't worry me needlessly last night. Technology FTW!A different kind of thankful. A memorial thankful.Once in awhile on this rock of rotting, fetid garbage you meet people that put your faith back in humanity. Some people are so kind and generous, you wonder HOW the hell could I be the same species? The good people of this hop, for example, and the people of the Chicago Breast Cancer 3-Day. If we're smart, we learn from their example. Friday morning the human race got some bad news: An amazing woman I met passed away, and lost her fight with that evil demon cancer. Marylou was one of the most amazing women I ever met, I'm thankful to have met her and to have known her. She was the perfect mother, wife, grandmother, friend, volunteer, human. She not only volunteered a great deal of her time to cancer charities, when she was no longer able to do that medically, she would knit hats and such for the homeless. From her sick bed she did this. She gave everyone she knew an example of how to live, how to love unconditionally, how to give back and be a graceful angel even during the darkest times. When I first met her amazing husband (of 45 years!) was wearing a shirt that read:"HumanKIND: Be Both"and that sums it all up right there.

from northernsun.com

I will never forget you, Marylou, and how you always had a smile for everyone. In the freezing cold, in the pouring rain, at 4a.m. when your team was breaking the "No whining" rule. Even the a-holes that didn't really deserve one. You made every event, and the world in general, a better place. I can only hope to use that example to try to do a little sliver of the same in my remaining time. I will never be the angel you were, but I shall really, really try to be better.

My condolences. Marylou sounds like a wonderful person. You wrote a beautiful tribute.

Happy birthday to your son. The late teen years can be challenging, but there is hope.

We have both Lowe's and Home Depot nearby, and my husband and I regularly go to "Lowe Depot." In fact, we were at both of them yesterday. There's always another project, isn't there? Glad your house will be safe from carbon monoxide now--yikes!

Thank you! Lowe Depot, I like that! We have a Lowe's not too far away, but they didn't have the same options for us when we've looked in the past, not to mention our Home Depot has price matched a couple things, so we usually just go there. My kids are obviously pretty attached to it, as you can see :)

2. The should just rename duct tape "actually the most likely think you'll use this for is kids' crafts tape."

3. My sister and I treated the hardware store like an amusement park, with all the doors and fixtures, parts and wide aisles, and we could be loud as we wanted to. Today, my kids will do all this - in Target.

1. YES!2. Totally. We also use it to cover the speaker of ours kids LOUD toys, and so many things I did a whole post on it. I had to literally TAPE my kids' drawers closed for awhile, they wouldn't stop pulling all the clothes out and then CLIMBING into the drawers!3. We did, too! My favorite was the big one that had tractors. We used to climb all over those tractors! I remind myself of that when my kids are running amok in whatever store! They do have to be semi-quiet in Target, we've gotten dirty looks and I can't afford to be banned from one of my favorite hangouts! :)

I am so very sorry about Marylou and truly sounded like she was a wonderful woman even doing knitting when she was so very sick. I am keeping you, her family and other friends in my thoughts and prayers. And the Home Depot adventure made me smile, because I could totally picture my girls doing something similar if we took them there.

Thank you Janine! We used to really dread these trips, trying to keep them busy in the carts w/all kinds of stuff, but now they really have fun in the place! Thank goodness, too, because our old house needs a LOT of work :)

The vacation sounds marvelous.You should first be thankful for having someone in the house who actually knows how to fix things. We rarely go to Home Depot. Not because things never break, but because no one knows how or has time to fix them. Good heavens about the incorrect duct work! I thought our dryer, which didn't vent at all but just went all over the basement wall was bad! Glad you got that fixed.I'm sorry to hear about the loss of MaryLou. Sounds like she thoroughly used every minute she had on this earth to be the person she was meant to be.

We really do NOT know how to do....anything. We've just started to learn from our mistakes, as constantly finding and paying someone else to do these things is just getting out of hand! We didn't realize how BAD that dryer vent thing was, I'd like to think we would have fixed it sooner if we really knew, but we're not exactly on top of these things.....Thank you for your kind thoughts. She was truly an angel on this earth.

I will have you know that I have not, as of this Comment, read your Post, I simply wanted to convey my respect for the Title of today's post. Have all of us not read, in our first days in blogville, 'to build a following and create reader anticipation, always strive to create a title that is both interesting and eye catching'

Thank you, Clark! You probably are all too aware that I STINK to the high heavens at blogging, but I can sometimes come up with a catchy (seemingly perverted, but really is NOT) title! It seems like the most sexy-sounding titles get the MOST traffic. Coincidence? I think not.

I love HUMANKIND Be Both (scheduled it to Pin on my our land board). I'm so sorry for your loss though Joy - she sounds like a wonderful woman and somebody who we can all learn from. We, too, spend way too much time at Home Depot and my son LOVES to play in all of the sharp stuff and I've gotten totally fine with it. Here's to your husband's shiny new pipe (hehe). And I'm glad for you and your son that he can spend some time at his dad's house - giving you a break but not kicking him to the actual curb. We had to kick my step daughter out a couple of years ago and I was relieved she had her mom's to go to after being kicked out of her friend's house. Her mom's not the best but at least I know she's sometimes eating. Your vacation sounds awesome!!! Bonfires! S'mores! And yes, they deserve an award!

"Sharp stuff" hahaha totally what my husband was afraid of. Thank you for your words, it's been really hard for me as a parent, a former helicopter parent, but I'm thinking that may have been part of the problem. Who knows? But he does need to learn consequences, that has always been a struggle with ADD minds, they have to LEARN to think ahead, and he hates doing it. And you're right about the eating, he'll go days without eating if not reminded. But at least he works in a restaurant, even if it's McDeath, at least it will keep him alive. Thanks for reading, our vacation was wonderful! Not as wonderful as YOURS, but pretty damn great.

Whoa, that's WAY off! We do notice it's off, but I know it depends WHERE the thermometer in question is placed. The one on my car is always HOTTER than the actual temperature, as are the ones on the banks by us, and the one on my phone seems to be a little cooler than what it feels like. Also, it told us it was supposed to rain all day today and it's sunny and over 80 degrees. So I guess I DO have to mow, which I offered yesterday thinking it was going to rain, d'oh!Thanks for your thoughts. Good luck to your friend! It's probably not very comforting, but being involved w/the Breast Cancer 3-Day, I can tell you treatment is a LOT better now than it was even 10 years ago. So there's that :)

AccuWeather and Home Depot and your holiday and Smores all sound great. And I'm very impressed with your husband's shiny pipe :)

But this lady who died, sounds like she made *such* a difference and had an incredible impact for good, and I'm hugely happy that you knew her (not that you miss her though) and that she has been such a source of inspiration to you. And Joy, I think you're a better person than you think you are. I think you're bloody wonderful (even though I had to quadruple-name you earlier) and one of the most involved, active and compassionate people I know.

Thanks! She DID, and the whole charity really made quite an impression. I got more active with charities to surround myself with good causes, good people, hoping for good karma, and it unquestionably happened! I do try, and I'm MUCH better than I used to be, so that is comforting and gives me confidence.You QUADRUPLE named me?? Joy to the 4th power?

hahahaha well, WHATEVER it was for, I'm sure I deserved it!Thanks for your kind words, it's always so refreshing to meet the GOOD people. They're out there, but for me I really needed to actively seek them out. Maybe we all do? I dunno. I'm glad I found some here, thanks to you, and some in the real world!

So funny how synchronistically this worked today... I was just at the crisis center I got called in and asked one of the nurses who had been making smores... actually its code for whos been smoking percocets... they smell delicious! The whole er wreaked of marshmallows! AND your hubs shiney pipes... I just made a comment how Will Robinson's robot had dryer vent arms... not put to as good a use as your so pervey infered but hey... Im with Lizzie ... having met you in person and reading here... I think you may sell yourself a bit short... ok waaaaaaaaaaaay short.... And I miss yer face too!... now bout the kid... I got booted at 15 and cleaned up ...it can happen! Consequences have a funny way of straightening things out after living with them for a bit! Im sorry it came to that because I know its hell to have to pull the last card, but if you didnt love him youd enable him to become the worlds biggest prick...tough love is so tough on everyone.... ok last thing... truth? I LOVE TO PLAY IN HOME DEPOT... I bring my neph there just to do that!

Wow, I did not know that! I thought percocet was a pill, so it wouldn't dawn on me that anyone would smoke them. I learn SO much from you, Zoe! You should really write a blog :)YES, I can TOTALLY picture that robot now! "Danger! Danger!" You couldn't tell how shiny on our old black & white TV, but that's totally what his arms were made of! Good call. Thanks for the kind words, I need to hear them! Tough love is always tough on the parents. We know that the RIGHT thing is most often not the EASY thing. That's part of I how I know it's right :)Hey man, PLAY anywhere you can. As adults our PLAY time is limited!

I know, right? I literally uploaded that tip to Facebook the first time we realized that two screaming children would bring the people in orange aprons a runnin! It was mostly just to tell us that the kids shouldn't be running on the displays, but while they were THERE, we forced them to help us!